Sure, we could call it a four month hiatus, but let's call it what it really is. I have been a very bad blogger.
I hope to restart blogging in the new year. But in the meantime, I found I couldn't let Thanksgiving go by without my now-ritual noting of the things I am thankful for this year.
If you've read (or used to read!) this blog for a while, you know I start each month by writing down 50 things I am grateful for from the previous month. And every Thanksgiving, I start at the previous Thanksgiving and work my way through the year, picking 50 of the year's thankfulness entries at random.
Here's what I have been thankful for in 2010:
1. Hosting a Christmas Eve supper
2. Hanging out with my students
3. Good grades for the kids
4. Playing Alchemy online
5. My computer
6. Faith
7. Sabrina being concerned that I would have good Christmas presents
8. Ease in dealing with Leisure World officials re: my mom's condo
9. Getting over 20,000 YouTube views for my "church history in 4 minutes" video
10. Our friend Susan's surprise birthday party
11. Having fun writing my own "Deathly Hallows" script
12. Joining our friends Keith and Kim in their small group for Lent
13. Sleep
14. Being told I'm a "treasure" as a teacher at USC
15. Peaceful days
16. Starting work on a new spec script
17. Shopping with Sabrina and her friend Sophie for their "Double Day" outfits for school
18. Cory being invited into the Summer Intensive Acting Workshop
19. Harvard-Westlake
20. Sabrina working so hard on her part in "Annie"
21. Joel's performance of "More I Cannot Wish You" in Living Room Musicals' "Guys and Dolls"
22. Jack showing the video of the b'day party we threw him in Vegas 10 years ago at his party this year
23. The forums on TheHogshead.org
24. Watching "The Amazing Race" with the fam
25. Getting applause for a pitch
26. Praying for the kids on the way to school each day
27. Facebook
28. Going out to working lunches with Lee
29. Our mother-daughter book group
30. Pondering and discussing the finale of "Lost"
31. "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
32. Dinner with long-time friends Jeff & JoEllen
33. Watching "So You Think You Can Dance"
34. "Toy Story 3"
35. My small group at Premise
36. Cory playing the bass with T.J.'s band at church
37. Arbitration on "Smoke and Mirrors" moving forward
38. Our friend Aleta helping Living Room Musicals' "The Music Man" come together
39. Emails from my friend Kitty
40. Cory's audition tape with his friends Daniel and Tori
41. Lee getting over his migraine
42. Getting to see my friend Kathy act during Living Room Musicals' "The Music Man"
43. Watching "Glee" with Sabrina
44. Clothes-shopping with Sabrina
45. Emails from my friend Tom
46. Cracking a difficult story for a pitch
47. Easy Halloween costumes for the kids (Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Dr. Who)
48. My MFA students at USC
49. Mindy Smith coming to Harvard-Westlake to speak
50. Cory writing beautiful music
And here's to the end of 2010 and a new start in 2011!
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
HORCRUXES AND HALLOWS FROM COMIC-CON
We had a great time at Comic-Con last weekend. We didn't get in to a lot of the panels we wanted to see (in part because we missed all of Saturday, since it was the day Sabrina was coming back from camp). But we spent some nice time with people we don't often get to just hang out with, and all in all, we really enjoyed ourselves. I think we have a better idea of strategy for next year.
While we didn't get in to the Harry Potter panel, we did get to see the Horcruxes and Hallows that were on display. Oh yeah. Somehow that makes the upcoming movie seem more real.
Take a look.
The Horcruxes:
Rowena Ravenclaw's
Diadem
Marvolo Gaunt's
Ring (and the
Resurrection Stone
Tom Riddle's
Diary
Helga Hufflepuff's
Cup
Salazar Slytherin's
Locket
And the Hallows:
The Invisibility Cloak (I chose this close-up
pic so you can see the green lining, which
is what allows it to become invisible
when shot in front of a green screen)
The Elder Wand
(not really what I
thought it would
look like)...
MY APOLOGIES
Oh my. I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted anything here. My deep apologies to anyone who is still checking in. Some of it has been Facebook's fault: When you post a status update or two every day, sometimes you feel as if you've already made your statement online. Some of it is simply that I'm less interested in hearing myself talk. Some of it is that I haven't felt like I had much to say recently.
But for better or worse, I will start posting again. I've read books, I've taken pictures... I'm sure I can find something to say.... Let's start with some pictures...
But for better or worse, I will start posting again. I've read books, I've taken pictures... I'm sure I can find something to say.... Let's start with some pictures...
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
THE VADER PROJECT
What happens when noted artists take on Darth Vader?
You get the Vader Project.
We decided to try to go on a field trip every week that the kids aren't in camp. This week, we went to the closing weekend of the Vader Project (it moves to New York this week).
Each artist was given a replica of Darth Vader's actual helmet and told to do whatever they wanted. These are some of our faves.
You get the Vader Project. We decided to try to go on a field trip every week that the kids aren't in camp. This week, we went to the closing weekend of the Vader Project (it moves to New York this week).
Each artist was given a replica of Darth Vader's actual helmet and told to do whatever they wanted. These are some of our faves.
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
FROM ZERO TO ROCK 'N' ROLL IN A YEAR....
It's amazing to watch your kids grow up. It's more amazing when it happens in little more than a year.
Slightly over a year ago, Cory identified himself as a bass player. And so we got him a bass (an Ibanez that had retailed for over $600 and we got it for $80 on eBay, thank you very much!). And he fiddled around on it. But he really couldn't play. Yet.
Still there he was, out there calling himself a bass player. And so the high school band at church asked him to play. Uh-oh. He made some excuses. He stalled. And I started to get emails -- why wasn't Cory responding to the invitation?
So I asked him if perhaps he had inadvertently oversold his abilities as a bass player. Relief washed over his face as he responded, "Yes, that's what I did. I inadvertently oversold my abilities."
We decided the only solution was for him to get his abilities up to the advertised level pronto. He had his first lesson coming up, and he went in telling his teacher that he had one week to learn enough to be able to muddle his way through a couple of songs with the high school band.
Apparently, he muddled through just fine. They asked him back on a regular basis. He had a few more lessons. And before we knew it, he had his audition for the rock & roll class (excuse me, "rhythm section workshop") at Harvard-Westlake. He had to play a solo, had to sight read a piece or play along with something. It was a real audition. We heard a lot of practicing behind the closed door of his room. Lee gave him a crash lesson in sight-reading. And we tucked his bass in the trunk and drove off to the audition.
Apparently, he muddled through again. He told the teachers he was auditioning for that he'd only had five lessons. "You could've fooled me," was the response. Five bass players auditioned for the class. Two got in. One was Cory. (And they invited him to take up the upright bass as well and play with the orchestra, bypassing the usually required Beginning Strings class. He passed, but that was a pretty cool invite.)
So school began, with Cory schlepping his bass back and forth to school every other day, and taking Electronic Music (composition and music theory) on the days he wasn't in rhythm section. He kept playing with the high school band at church. Guys from school came over periodically to jam. We'd find him sitting in front of the computer, headphones on, bass unplugged, playing along to music videos.
And then last weekend our church had its regular Student Sunday, where students take part in the service. They usher and greet, and whatnot. But Cory wasn't asked to usher. He was asked to play with the band. Not the high school band. The real band, which is composed of, well, real musicians. The kind of musicians who make a living as musicians, for the most part.
Two other students were asked to sit in as well. One was a graduating senior off to the Berklee College of Music in the fall as a voice major. The other was a graduating senior off to Vanderbilt as a music composition major. And when they came to intro Cory, the leader of the band said, "And Cory's what, a junior? A senior?" Cory hemmed and hawed and finally said, "Something like that." I think he didn't want to admit he's a freshman. And I'm not sure they would have believed him.
He played great, by the way. A real pro. The regular bass player told us he's gonna start worrying about being replaced.
Years slide into one another as our kids grow up. Cutting with rounded scissors slides into cutting with sharp scissors. Picture books slide into chapter books slide into young adult literature. Latin I slides into Latin II, algebra slides into geometry slides into calculus. We try to mark transitions with graduations and promotions, but they seem somewhat arbitrary at times.
But sometimes you get a moment when you realize something has changed. A new chapter has opened. You blink, and suddenly the boy who was worried he'd look foolish because he didn't know what he was doing actually does know what he's doing and then some, and he's up there playing with the pros, doing something you could never have taught him. And all you had to do with it was to pay for a half dozen lessons and take a few photos and try not to embarrass him by beaming with pride too obviously.
I have a feeling these moments of startled revelation will be coming at me more and more frequently in the next few years. "Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers, blossoming even as we gaze..."
And in the meantime, if anyone needs a bass player for a gig, well, I can make a recommendation.
Slightly over a year ago, Cory identified himself as a bass player. And so we got him a bass (an Ibanez that had retailed for over $600 and we got it for $80 on eBay, thank you very much!). And he fiddled around on it. But he really couldn't play. Yet.
Still there he was, out there calling himself a bass player. And so the high school band at church asked him to play. Uh-oh. He made some excuses. He stalled. And I started to get emails -- why wasn't Cory responding to the invitation?
So I asked him if perhaps he had inadvertently oversold his abilities as a bass player. Relief washed over his face as he responded, "Yes, that's what I did. I inadvertently oversold my abilities."
We decided the only solution was for him to get his abilities up to the advertised level pronto. He had his first lesson coming up, and he went in telling his teacher that he had one week to learn enough to be able to muddle his way through a couple of songs with the high school band.
Apparently, he muddled through again. He told the teachers he was auditioning for that he'd only had five lessons. "You could've fooled me," was the response. Five bass players auditioned for the class. Two got in. One was Cory. (And they invited him to take up the upright bass as well and play with the orchestra, bypassing the usually required Beginning Strings class. He passed, but that was a pretty cool invite.)
So school began, with Cory schlepping his bass back and forth to school every other day, and taking Electronic Music (composition and music theory) on the days he wasn't in rhythm section. He kept playing with the high school band at church. Guys from school came over periodically to jam. We'd find him sitting in front of the computer, headphones on, bass unplugged, playing along to music videos.
And then last weekend our church had its regular Student Sunday, where students take part in the service. They usher and greet, and whatnot. But Cory wasn't asked to usher. He was asked to play with the band. Not the high school band. The real band, which is composed of, well, real musicians. The kind of musicians who make a living as musicians, for the most part.Two other students were asked to sit in as well. One was a graduating senior off to the Berklee College of Music in the fall as a voice major. The other was a graduating senior off to Vanderbilt as a music composition major. And when they came to intro Cory, the leader of the band said, "And Cory's what, a junior? A senior?" Cory hemmed and hawed and finally said, "Something like that." I think he didn't want to admit he's a freshman. And I'm not sure they would have believed him.
He played great, by the way. A real pro. The regular bass player told us he's gonna start worrying about being replaced.
Years slide into one another as our kids grow up. Cutting with rounded scissors slides into cutting with sharp scissors. Picture books slide into chapter books slide into young adult literature. Latin I slides into Latin II, algebra slides into geometry slides into calculus. We try to mark transitions with graduations and promotions, but they seem somewhat arbitrary at times.
But sometimes you get a moment when you realize something has changed. A new chapter has opened. You blink, and suddenly the boy who was worried he'd look foolish because he didn't know what he was doing actually does know what he's doing and then some, and he's up there playing with the pros, doing something you could never have taught him. And all you had to do with it was to pay for a half dozen lessons and take a few photos and try not to embarrass him by beaming with pride too obviously.
I have a feeling these moments of startled revelation will be coming at me more and more frequently in the next few years. "Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers, blossoming even as we gaze..."
And in the meantime, if anyone needs a bass player for a gig, well, I can make a recommendation.
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
LAST THOUGHTS ON LOST
A few last thoughts as we all move on from Lost.....
I have a lot of friends who found the finale deeply moving and perfect. I have a lot of friends who found the finale deeply infuriating and who were furious at what they viewed as a betrayal.
In many ways, I understand both their points of view. I think how you responded to Lost was very much determined by your own expectations, and by the types of questions you wanted answered. If you demanded intellectual, plot-driven answers (Who built the statue? What about Walt? How did that pendulum work?), you were drastically disappointed. If you wanted emotional, character-driven answers (Does Kate belong with Sawyer or Jack? Will Jack ever conquer his father issues? Will we see the real John Locke again?), you were satisfied.
In some ways, this takes me back to the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. With Hallows, my expectations were very much fulfilled because they were (ahem) so very correct. I already *knew* Harry would live. I already *knew* Ron and Hermione would end up together (and ditto for Harry and Ginny). I already *knew* Snape was a good guy. I already *knew* Snape had kept Dumbledore alive for that last year, and that when he killed Dumbledore, he was really just releasing the death that he himself had kept corked up in that blackened hand for a year (the "stoppered death" theory). I already *knew* Snape loved Lily. I already *knew* Harry would pretend to be dead and his friends would believe it.... The only thing I got wrong was that Harry was a Horcrux, and in the grand scheme of things, that wasn't that much a disappointment.
With Lost, however, my expectations were not quite in synch with the writers' plan. I did want the happy ending and everyone restored, so emotionally, yes, it hit the target. But I honestly thought during the season that the Sideways world was going to turn out to be the "real" world -- the real world to be created in the finale when they succeeded in destroying the island -- and part of coming to terms with the finale was coming to terms with how wrong my own expectations were.
The parallels between the ending of Lost and Deathly Hallows continue in that, in both cases, the very ending of each was written at the beginning of each saga. J.J. Abrams apparently wrote the ending in the church right after he wrote the pilot episode, and J.K. Rowling reportedly wrote the Epilogue when she was writing the first book.
What we have in each, then, is a situation where the creator of the story has pre-dictated an ending that may or may not be totally in synch with the story by the time the story itself actually gets there.
I loved how Deathly Hallows ended... except for the Epilogue. When I initially read it, I found it very flat and uninformative. I wanted answers, and it didn't give me enough. I also found it not as well written as the rest of the series; not surprising, as Rowling's writing improved so drastically during that time.
However, very soon afterward, Rowling started giving interviews telling us what happened to various characters, who married whom, etc. and I found that getting the info I wanted outside the narrative of the story was just fine for me. And when I went back and read the Epilogue again, well, I still thought it wasn't as well written, but I was no longer dissatisfied with it, and I understood how Rowling herself might think it was a perfect ending.
I loved how Deathly Hallows ended... except for the Epilogue. When I initially read it, I found it very flat and uninformative. I wanted answers, and it didn't give me enough. I also found it not as well written as the rest of the series; not surprising, as Rowling's writing improved so drastically during that time.
However, very soon afterward, Rowling started giving interviews telling us what happened to various characters, who married whom, etc. and I found that getting the info I wanted outside the narrative of the story was just fine for me. And when I went back and read the Epilogue again, well, I still thought it wasn't as well written, but I was no longer dissatisfied with it, and I understood how Rowling herself might think it was a perfect ending.
I think we're dealing with the same situation with Lost. If the original J.J. Abrams ending was considered sacrosanct, certain things fall into place: Like why the showrunners have been saying for years that they knew where they were going. Like why so many plot threads were left dangling -- after all, if your ending is predestined to be character-driven, then that's what you're going to head for, and if you created lots of subplots maybe to pass the time because you didn't know how many episodes you had till you reached the ending, well, that's just something that happened. Like why Sayid ended up with Shannon, because when Abrams wrote the ending, Nadia didn't exist yet and no one knew how much we would all hate Shannon.
Personally, I think they could have had it both ways -- or at least closer to both ways. I think they could have stepped out and said, what plot lines do we need to tie up, and then ditched most of the temple storyline in Season 6 to focus on plot holes, all while keeping the Sideways storyline driving toward the finale.But thinking it through, if they felt they had to choose between plot-driven and character-driven, I think ultimately they made the correct choice. Lee and I have spent years telling our screenwriting students that "Feeling comes first." And that's precisely the dictum the showrunners followed here: They chose to close up the emotional storylines, to let the characters come to their own resolutions.
Think how very unsatisfying it would have been if they had chosen the plot-driven route. If we had known the technical details of how they ended up in the 1970s, what that outrigger shootout was all about, and what Libby was doing in the mental hospital, we could have filled out our checklist of unanswered questions, but would we have been satisifed with the ending? I doubt it.
Again, I think they could have answered more plot questions and given us the satisfying endings for the characters. I think they may have been a bit hamstrung by the fact that they had to connect the dots to a pre-written ending that, for me, did not quite jibe with the rest of the final episode. But I do think they made the right choice to focus on the characters, and to focus on the journey to the afterlife (a pretty risky and unexpected path for a network TV show to take).
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
LOST: A FEW QUESTIONS GET ANSWERED
A friend of a friend has a friend inside the writers' room at LOST. And that guy (I assume) answered a few questions in an email. And that email got forwarded to me. But I cannot post it, because I do not have permission. So instead I will make a list of the info I learned from that email which I found useful in pondering the LOST finale.
Here we go:
•The Island was real. Everything that happened on the Island was real.
•The final image of the plane crash was just there to show how far all the characters had come over the course of six seasons. (I feel good about this, because that's what I've been telling people on FB, without any verification.)
•The purpose of the island is to keep good and evil balanced in the world. That has always been its purpose, and always will be.
•The Island has always had a Protector, even before Jacob, even after Hurley.
•Jacob was, however, unique as a Protector because he had the Man in Black working against him; the devil, as it were. Jacob needed to kill the MIB but the Rules of the Island kept him from doing so.
•Jacob brought the candidates to the Island to kill the MIB. He had brought other candidates to the Island before Oceanic 815, but the MIB always got to them first and corrupted them. Richard Alpert was the one who made Jacob see he had to get more actively involved if he wanted his plan to work.
•Jacob brought the Dharma Initiative to the Island as part of his big plan. The original intention was for the Dharma Initiative to work for good. However, the MIB messed up this plan by corrupting Ben Linus. The MIB made Ben think he was doing Jacob's work when he was really serving the MIB.
•The Others and Ben killed off the Dharma Initiative and later tried to kill all the candidates from Oceanic 815 because that's what the MIB wanted. Apparently the same Rules that kept Jacob from killing the MIB also kept the MIB from killing Jacob's candidates.
•Jacob wanted to give his candidates something he had never been given: free will. (And his brother, the MIB, also had never had free will.) This is why he let the candidates choose who would have the job of killing off Smokey/the MIB in the end. This was always the key question of the show: Free will vs. predestination. (With the second dichotomy being science vs. faith.)
•No one will officially say whether Jack needed all six seasons to get to the point where he could kill Smokey/Fake Locke. But some people think this is the case.
•Jack was happy at the end because he did what he always wanted to do: Save his fellow castaways, get them off the Island.
•We all have people in our lives who are with at the "most important moments," as Christian Shepherd says at the end. Think of them as your reincarnation buddies -- the people you move from one lifetime to another with. The castaways on LOST had this sort of "soulmate" relationship with one another.
•The Sideways world was a version of purgatory, subconsciously created by the castaways as a sort of "holding place" where they would exist until they could find each other and move forward to the afterlife. It's not "Live together, die alone," as Jack said in season 1. It's "Live together, die together."
•The castaways were meant to be on Oceanic 815 together. And it wasn't just because Jacob wanted it or predestined it, but because it was meant to be in a more cosmic sense.
•In the science vs. faith dichotomy of the show, the writers chose to come down on the side of faith, which is ultimately the answer to all the mysteries.
•Michael wasn't allowed into the Sideways/"purgatory" world because he failed his test on the Island, and was not worthy to move on. Same with the MIB.
•Those we saw in the church did pass their tests and were allowed into the Sideways world when they died. Some died prior to Jack's death, some died after Jack's death. Hurley possibly died centuries after Jack's death.
•Those who were in the Sideways world but were not in the church -- Anna Lucia, Faraday, Danielle, Alex, Miles, Frank, etc. -- have to find their own "soul cluster" [to use a phrase Doc Jenson is using on ew.com] before they can awaken and move on.
•Ben didn't go into the church and isn't ready to move because he hasn't yet connected with the people he must connect with. He needs to awaken Danielle, Alex, and others. And he has to atone more for all the harm he did, more than just being Hurley's #2 on the Island. He has to become what Hurley and Desmond were: The connector that helps the others in his "soul cluster" to connect with each other. When everyone else in his "cluster" is ready, he will get to move on, too.
•Same is true for the others we didn't see in the church: Daniel, Charlotte, Eloise, etc.
•Ben is also not in the church because the final church scene was written immediately after the pilot was written. When the writers said they knew the ending from the very beginning of the series, this is what they meant. They did not change what J.J. Abrams originally wrote. Ben was therefore not included, because his character was meant to have a tiny 3-episode arc and be out. However, they loved the actor, and kept him in the show.
•The original ending starts at the moment when Jack walks in and sees the casket and ends when he sees the Ajira plane fly overhead and closes his eyes.
....Okay, this answers a few questions for me, and helps me understand why I didn't necessarily catch everything in the finale. I'll weigh in with my own thoughts on the finale very soon....
Here we go:
•The Island was real. Everything that happened on the Island was real.
•The final image of the plane crash was just there to show how far all the characters had come over the course of six seasons. (I feel good about this, because that's what I've been telling people on FB, without any verification.)
•The purpose of the island is to keep good and evil balanced in the world. That has always been its purpose, and always will be.
•The Island has always had a Protector, even before Jacob, even after Hurley. •Jacob was, however, unique as a Protector because he had the Man in Black working against him; the devil, as it were. Jacob needed to kill the MIB but the Rules of the Island kept him from doing so.
•Jacob brought the candidates to the Island to kill the MIB. He had brought other candidates to the Island before Oceanic 815, but the MIB always got to them first and corrupted them. Richard Alpert was the one who made Jacob see he had to get more actively involved if he wanted his plan to work.
•Jacob brought the Dharma Initiative to the Island as part of his big plan. The original intention was for the Dharma Initiative to work for good. However, the MIB messed up this plan by corrupting Ben Linus. The MIB made Ben think he was doing Jacob's work when he was really serving the MIB.
•The Others and Ben killed off the Dharma Initiative and later tried to kill all the candidates from Oceanic 815 because that's what the MIB wanted. Apparently the same Rules that kept Jacob from killing the MIB also kept the MIB from killing Jacob's candidates.
•Jacob wanted to give his candidates something he had never been given: free will. (And his brother, the MIB, also had never had free will.) This is why he let the candidates choose who would have the job of killing off Smokey/the MIB in the end. This was always the key question of the show: Free will vs. predestination. (With the second dichotomy being science vs. faith.)
•No one will officially say whether Jack needed all six seasons to get to the point where he could kill Smokey/Fake Locke. But some people think this is the case.
•Jack was happy at the end because he did what he always wanted to do: Save his fellow castaways, get them off the Island.
•We all have people in our lives who are with at the "most important moments," as Christian Shepherd says at the end. Think of them as your reincarnation buddies -- the people you move from one lifetime to another with. The castaways on LOST had this sort of "soulmate" relationship with one another.
•The Sideways world was a version of purgatory, subconsciously created by the castaways as a sort of "holding place" where they would exist until they could find each other and move forward to the afterlife. It's not "Live together, die alone," as Jack said in season 1. It's "Live together, die together."
•The castaways were meant to be on Oceanic 815 together. And it wasn't just because Jacob wanted it or predestined it, but because it was meant to be in a more cosmic sense.
•In the science vs. faith dichotomy of the show, the writers chose to come down on the side of faith, which is ultimately the answer to all the mysteries.
•Michael wasn't allowed into the Sideways/"purgatory" world because he failed his test on the Island, and was not worthy to move on. Same with the MIB.
•Those we saw in the church did pass their tests and were allowed into the Sideways world when they died. Some died prior to Jack's death, some died after Jack's death. Hurley possibly died centuries after Jack's death.
•Those who were in the Sideways world but were not in the church -- Anna Lucia, Faraday, Danielle, Alex, Miles, Frank, etc. -- have to find their own "soul cluster" [to use a phrase Doc Jenson is using on ew.com] before they can awaken and move on.
•Ben didn't go into the church and isn't ready to move because he hasn't yet connected with the people he must connect with. He needs to awaken Danielle, Alex, and others. And he has to atone more for all the harm he did, more than just being Hurley's #2 on the Island. He has to become what Hurley and Desmond were: The connector that helps the others in his "soul cluster" to connect with each other. When everyone else in his "cluster" is ready, he will get to move on, too.
•Same is true for the others we didn't see in the church: Daniel, Charlotte, Eloise, etc.
•Ben is also not in the church because the final church scene was written immediately after the pilot was written. When the writers said they knew the ending from the very beginning of the series, this is what they meant. They did not change what J.J. Abrams originally wrote. Ben was therefore not included, because his character was meant to have a tiny 3-episode arc and be out. However, they loved the actor, and kept him in the show.
•The original ending starts at the moment when Jack walks in and sees the casket and ends when he sees the Ajira plane fly overhead and closes his eyes.
....Okay, this answers a few questions for me, and helps me understand why I didn't necessarily catch everything in the finale. I'll weigh in with my own thoughts on the finale very soon....
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
THE BOOKS OF THE FIRST QUARTER -- PART DEUX
So yes, I am aware that the second quarter of the year is almost over, and I will have far fewer books to remark on. But let's move on to the second half of the alphabet, if only as a reassurance that I have not forsaken this blog!
NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL by Justina Chan Headley
This was the first book we read in our mother-daughter book club, and it was an excellent choice for those purposes. It tells the story of Terra, a teenager with a perfect body but a port wine birthmark on her face that makes her feel ugly. Terra is also saddled with an emotionally abusive father and a grossly overweight mother who soaks up the abuse like suntan oil. When Terra and her mom get into a car accident with a Goth Chinese teenager named Jacob (because all the cool teen guys are named Jacob, apparently) and his mom, a friendship is begun, and the four go to China together and expand their emotional horizons. I wouldn't recommend this book to many adults, but for teen girls, it's a terrific conversation starter about body image, choices, dealing with abuse and bullying, all sorts of relevant issues. Vivid characters, unexpected twists, and I'm surprised at how much stayed with me months later.
A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY by John Irving
One of the most spellbinding experiences of my life was my first reading of THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP -- I still remember the open-mouthed horror I felt when Garp turns off the ignition to float into the waiting driveway with his two sons in the car.... Sadly, Owen Meany did not quite live up to Garp. It has all the elements of mythos, horror and compelling characters, but somehow they don't add up to the same power. Perhaps it's the structure of the book, with the most horrific moment occurring near the end (which makes the whole book set-up). Perhaps the narrator isn't as interesting (to me) as Garp. I liked it. But it just made me want to go read Garp again....
UGLIES / PRETTIES / SPECIALS by Scott Westerfeld
These are actually three separate books, but really inseparable as a series. It's hard for me to imagine reading only one of the three (unlike some series, where you might pick and choose which books you want to read). Sabrina gave me these books to read, insisted I read them. It was an odd read; I found them both intriguing and sometimes plodding -- sometimes almost at the same time.
The intriguing side comes from the dystopian world in which the stories take place. It's a world in which children are separated from their parents to live in a dorm-type situation, in preparation for their eventual cosmetic surgery, which transforms them from "Uglies" to "Pretties." Uglies, one quickly realizes, are people who look like you and me (okay, like me; you can decide about you). The post-surgery Pretties are physically perfect and gorgeous. But there's a problem: Apparently the surgery not only makes you physically beautiful, it also mutes a part of your brain: the part that makes you unique, that might make you want to rebel.
And rebel our heroine Tally does, running away to find other rebellious Uglies living in the wilderness. In PRETTIES, she is forced to undergo the surgery, but finds a way to break the hold it has on her. And in SPECIALS, she is captured and given more surgery to turn her into a fighting machine -- and again has to fight back.
I think these are terrific books for any teenage girl to read, bearing so directly on issues of body image and peer pressure, but set in a fascinating and sometimes terrifying world. I'm not recommending them with a link, however, because of that plodding factor -- I always wanted to know what was going to happen next to Tally, but sometimes I felt it was an uphill battle reading my way through somewhat generic prose to get to it.
THE UNLIKELY DISCIPLE by Kevin Roose
A fascinating book. When Kevin Roose was a sophomore in college, he took a semester off from Brown University and enrolled at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University as a sort of undercover student. He went to classes, lived in the dorms, went to Falwell's church, even got dragged into a street witnessing trip to Florida. He told no one that he wasn't a Christian, and did a clearly very good job of faking it. One might expect his book, told from a very blue state perspective, to be condescending, but, much to its credit, it's not. Roose is honest about what he found appealing about his time at Liberty, and honest about the shortcomings of the world he snuck into. The only reason I am not linking to the book is because of its underlying assumption that the extreme fundamentalist Christianity Roose experienced at Liberty U is a standard that most Christians in the U.S. would buy into (when, frankly, I'm not sure I could survive a semester there at all). If that isn't an issue for you, by all means read UNLIKELY DISCIPLE.
THE WESTING GAME by Ellen Raskin
Cory insisted I read this, which is an unusual occurrence. So I read it... and wondered why he was so insistent and why it won a Newbery Medal. Maybe it's me, but I just found it contrived and not that interesting. Sam Westing dies, and in his will he leaves clues for his heirs that will purportedly lead to his killer. I found the clues very easy to figure out, saw the end coming, and wasn't that interested. Oh well.
THE WOMAN IN WHITE by Wilkie Collins
As a lover of Victorian-era novels, I can't believe I had never heard of this book. I really loved it. It's a mystery/thriller, but told in a unique way: Through the voices (and actually, through the documents -- diaries, letters, etc.) of each of the characters. So you get a little literary RASHOMON a century or so before the movie existed. I loved the shifting first person point of view, and how it kept me on edge as we try to unravel a family-based mystery centering on an inheritance. Wonderful characters, wonderful suspense. Loved it.
...Okay, I already have some books lined up to talk about for the second quarter (which, of course, we're over halfway through), but those will wait till July.
Let me know if you've read any of these, or if you've read anything I should be reading!
NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL by Justina Chan Headley
This was the first book we read in our mother-daughter book club, and it was an excellent choice for those purposes. It tells the story of Terra, a teenager with a perfect body but a port wine birthmark on her face that makes her feel ugly. Terra is also saddled with an emotionally abusive father and a grossly overweight mother who soaks up the abuse like suntan oil. When Terra and her mom get into a car accident with a Goth Chinese teenager named Jacob (because all the cool teen guys are named Jacob, apparently) and his mom, a friendship is begun, and the four go to China together and expand their emotional horizons. I wouldn't recommend this book to many adults, but for teen girls, it's a terrific conversation starter about body image, choices, dealing with abuse and bullying, all sorts of relevant issues. Vivid characters, unexpected twists, and I'm surprised at how much stayed with me months later.
A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY by John Irving
One of the most spellbinding experiences of my life was my first reading of THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP -- I still remember the open-mouthed horror I felt when Garp turns off the ignition to float into the waiting driveway with his two sons in the car.... Sadly, Owen Meany did not quite live up to Garp. It has all the elements of mythos, horror and compelling characters, but somehow they don't add up to the same power. Perhaps it's the structure of the book, with the most horrific moment occurring near the end (which makes the whole book set-up). Perhaps the narrator isn't as interesting (to me) as Garp. I liked it. But it just made me want to go read Garp again....
UGLIES / PRETTIES / SPECIALS by Scott Westerfeld
These are actually three separate books, but really inseparable as a series. It's hard for me to imagine reading only one of the three (unlike some series, where you might pick and choose which books you want to read). Sabrina gave me these books to read, insisted I read them. It was an odd read; I found them both intriguing and sometimes plodding -- sometimes almost at the same time.
The intriguing side comes from the dystopian world in which the stories take place. It's a world in which children are separated from their parents to live in a dorm-type situation, in preparation for their eventual cosmetic surgery, which transforms them from "Uglies" to "Pretties." Uglies, one quickly realizes, are people who look like you and me (okay, like me; you can decide about you). The post-surgery Pretties are physically perfect and gorgeous. But there's a problem: Apparently the surgery not only makes you physically beautiful, it also mutes a part of your brain: the part that makes you unique, that might make you want to rebel.
And rebel our heroine Tally does, running away to find other rebellious Uglies living in the wilderness. In PRETTIES, she is forced to undergo the surgery, but finds a way to break the hold it has on her. And in SPECIALS, she is captured and given more surgery to turn her into a fighting machine -- and again has to fight back.
I think these are terrific books for any teenage girl to read, bearing so directly on issues of body image and peer pressure, but set in a fascinating and sometimes terrifying world. I'm not recommending them with a link, however, because of that plodding factor -- I always wanted to know what was going to happen next to Tally, but sometimes I felt it was an uphill battle reading my way through somewhat generic prose to get to it.
THE UNLIKELY DISCIPLE by Kevin Roose
A fascinating book. When Kevin Roose was a sophomore in college, he took a semester off from Brown University and enrolled at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University as a sort of undercover student. He went to classes, lived in the dorms, went to Falwell's church, even got dragged into a street witnessing trip to Florida. He told no one that he wasn't a Christian, and did a clearly very good job of faking it. One might expect his book, told from a very blue state perspective, to be condescending, but, much to its credit, it's not. Roose is honest about what he found appealing about his time at Liberty, and honest about the shortcomings of the world he snuck into. The only reason I am not linking to the book is because of its underlying assumption that the extreme fundamentalist Christianity Roose experienced at Liberty U is a standard that most Christians in the U.S. would buy into (when, frankly, I'm not sure I could survive a semester there at all). If that isn't an issue for you, by all means read UNLIKELY DISCIPLE.
THE WESTING GAME by Ellen Raskin
Cory insisted I read this, which is an unusual occurrence. So I read it... and wondered why he was so insistent and why it won a Newbery Medal. Maybe it's me, but I just found it contrived and not that interesting. Sam Westing dies, and in his will he leaves clues for his heirs that will purportedly lead to his killer. I found the clues very easy to figure out, saw the end coming, and wasn't that interested. Oh well.
THE WOMAN IN WHITE by Wilkie Collins
As a lover of Victorian-era novels, I can't believe I had never heard of this book. I really loved it. It's a mystery/thriller, but told in a unique way: Through the voices (and actually, through the documents -- diaries, letters, etc.) of each of the characters. So you get a little literary RASHOMON a century or so before the movie existed. I loved the shifting first person point of view, and how it kept me on edge as we try to unravel a family-based mystery centering on an inheritance. Wonderful characters, wonderful suspense. Loved it.
...Okay, I already have some books lined up to talk about for the second quarter (which, of course, we're over halfway through), but those will wait till July.
Let me know if you've read any of these, or if you've read anything I should be reading!
Monday, May 10, 2010
THE BOOKS OF THE FIRST QUARTER 2010
Yes, we're well into the second quarter of the year, I realize that. Which makes it more imperative for me to sit down and work my way through what I've read so far this year....
If I link to the book, that means I think it's well worth your time (and that it was well worth mine)...
ANNE OF GREEN GABLES by Lucy Maud Montgomery
It was surprising to us all that no one in our mother-daughter book group had ever read Anne of Green Gables. And having read it, it was absolutely astonishing to me that I never discovered it browsing around the extremely limited collection of my local library growing up, or that no one ever said, "Here, read this." I read a lot of stories about orphans for some reason (enough that I thought for a while that one had to be an orphan to have adventures), and I can't believe I missed this one.
I loved it. I loved Anne's unabashed imagination and passion, loved stepping into a beautiful world I'd never been to, loved seeing Anne and Gilbert not realizing the obvious (well, mostly Anne), loved watching Marilla learn to love Anne. And I'm so glad that Sabrina read it as well...
While cleaning out my mom's condo, I found the entire set of Anne books. I kept them all. Maybe they will be my summer reading.
THE BIG OVER EASY by Jasper Fforde
This is the first in Jasper Fforde's NURSERY CRIMES series, which I had to read for work. Fforde, best known for his THURSDAY NEXT series, creates worlds in which fictional characters, in this case nursery rhyme and fairy tale characters, live side by side with "real" characters in something that might approximate the real world. His books are always very dense with literary allusions, puns, and clever detours; as a result, they are very intellectually challenging, and not always what I have in mind when I want to curl up with a good book. This particular story is a whodunit about the murder of Humpty Dumpty. As always with Fforde, intensely clever, with moments of brilliance and moments of jumping the shark.
THE CHRISTIAN IMAGINATION by Leland Ryken
This is a group of essays and other short works, some by authors (C.S. Lewis, Madeleine L'Engle, etc.), some by theologians, on the relationship of Christianity and the arts. A few of them are very good -- I don't remember the writer, unfortunately, but I liked one about the fallacy of thinking that something has to be "safe" to be Christian. Many of them are deadly boring -- usually these are the ones by the theologians and the literary critics, who tend to make it clear that they have never created a fictional work in their lives and are purely writing from the "outside." I found myself skimming it.
COLUMBINE by Dave Cullen
A stunning read and a masterful work of journalism. The factual story of the 1999 school shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado, this book dispels myth after myth propagated in the early days (and even the early years) after the tragedy. (No, Cassie Bernal did not "say yes." No, the killers were not Goths.) Even more important, it gives us an understanding as to why this happened, with a detailed account of the FBI hostage negotiator who happened to be on the scene and therefore got involved in digging to the root of the killers' psyches. A remarkable and fascinating book.
THE FOURTH BEAR by Jasper Fforde
This is the sequel to The Big Over Easy (above), and the second in Fforde's Nursery Crimes series, and again, I read it for work (which is different from reading for pleasure). I liked it quite a bit better than Over Easy, particularly loved the very precise explanation of why the Three Bears' porridge was all different temperatures if it was all dished out at the same time. As with all Jasper Fforde, there were moments of sheer screaming brilliance surrounded but a lot of "huh?" -- or maybe I'm just not quick-witted enough to track with everything going on at once. Masterful plotting, as always with Fforde, but an acquired taste for the sheer weirdness of it all.
GOING BOVINE by Libby Bray
We read this for our mother-daughter book club. The story of a slacker high school kid who contracts mad cow disease and runs away from home, heading off on a wild road trip that oh-so-roughly parallels Don Quixote, accompanied by an odd dwarf and visited periodically by an angel named Dulcie (get it?)... In the end, it turns out the road trip has been a hallucination and he has been in the hospital the whole time. Yes, I know that was a spoiler, but believe me, I have just saved you hours of your life. This book could have cut 200 pages and it would still have been too long.
GOOD IN A ROOM: How to Sell Yourself (And Your Ideas) and Win Over Any Audience by Stephanie Palmer.
This book could really be subtitled: "How To Take a Meeting." I had to rush through this book, but I found it very encouraging, in part because I realized I already knew so much of what she was saying. It's a definite must-read for anyone who *doesn't* do meetings every single day (If you do, you will probably yawn because you know it all already). Lots of little hints, and good focus on what's important and what's not. A clear yes.
THE GUARDIAN by Nicholas Sparks.
Another read for our mother-daughter book club, chosen because one of the girls had heard a book report on it in class and was intrigued.... Julie's husband has died, but he arranged for her to have a Great Dane delivered after his death. The dog is an intensely great judge of character. He growls whenever he sees Richard but he loves Mike. Julie's not smart enough to realize this. Richard stalks Julie, almost kills her, but the dog dies to save her.... Melodramatic to the extreme. I know Nicholas Sparks has millions of fans but this book did not make me one of them.
HIMALAYA by Michael Palin.
This is a companion piece to a BBC travel documentary that Palin did a few years back, sort of his travel diary while making the film about the trip. I needed to read it because I have been working on a project set in the Himalayas. Frankly, I would have expected far more from a member of Monty Python. It just wasn't that interesting to read, almost as if he phoned it in, or as if someone else wrote it up based on some scribbles in his journals.
THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins
Sabrina started telling me I had to read this book months ago. Okay, I put it on the list. Then I started seeing other mentions of it, notably at The Hogshead. So I put it on hold at the library and waited. With a little trepidation, I have to admit. I get nervous when a book (or TV show or movie or whatever) is hyped so much that my expectations are raised. What if I didn't like it as much as I wanted to?
No worries. I was mesmerized by The Hunger Games. Haunted by it. I dreamed about it, couldn't get it out of my mind. A corner of my mind is still working it over, weeks later.
As you probably know, The Hunger Games is set in a post-apocalyptic world where North America has been divided into districts, most of them quite poor and downtrodden, and children from each district are chosen by lottery annually to take part in the Hunger Games, a massive televised competition that is part Survivor, part Truman Show and part Lord of the Flies... because the children not only have to survive, they have to kill their competitors. Last one standing wins.
I wondered if the style of the book caused problems for some people, given that it's written in first-person, present-tense. (As a screenwriter, present tense is my default option.) I'd be interested in hearing from others. In any event, I won't keep writing about it here because it would throw this post out of whack (maybe I'll give it its own post). Suffice it to say that it's the first book to go on my sidebar as fave books of 2010, and I have already placed the sequel (Catching Fire) on hold... but I am number 41 on the holds list... sigh.
......Okay, that gets us halfway through the alphabet (apparently I didn't read anything between I and M...). Coming up soon, the second half!
If I link to the book, that means I think it's well worth your time (and that it was well worth mine)...
ANNE OF GREEN GABLES by Lucy Maud Montgomery
It was surprising to us all that no one in our mother-daughter book group had ever read Anne of Green Gables. And having read it, it was absolutely astonishing to me that I never discovered it browsing around the extremely limited collection of my local library growing up, or that no one ever said, "Here, read this." I read a lot of stories about orphans for some reason (enough that I thought for a while that one had to be an orphan to have adventures), and I can't believe I missed this one.
I loved it. I loved Anne's unabashed imagination and passion, loved stepping into a beautiful world I'd never been to, loved seeing Anne and Gilbert not realizing the obvious (well, mostly Anne), loved watching Marilla learn to love Anne. And I'm so glad that Sabrina read it as well...
While cleaning out my mom's condo, I found the entire set of Anne books. I kept them all. Maybe they will be my summer reading.
THE BIG OVER EASY by Jasper Fforde
This is the first in Jasper Fforde's NURSERY CRIMES series, which I had to read for work. Fforde, best known for his THURSDAY NEXT series, creates worlds in which fictional characters, in this case nursery rhyme and fairy tale characters, live side by side with "real" characters in something that might approximate the real world. His books are always very dense with literary allusions, puns, and clever detours; as a result, they are very intellectually challenging, and not always what I have in mind when I want to curl up with a good book. This particular story is a whodunit about the murder of Humpty Dumpty. As always with Fforde, intensely clever, with moments of brilliance and moments of jumping the shark.
THE CHRISTIAN IMAGINATION by Leland Ryken
This is a group of essays and other short works, some by authors (C.S. Lewis, Madeleine L'Engle, etc.), some by theologians, on the relationship of Christianity and the arts. A few of them are very good -- I don't remember the writer, unfortunately, but I liked one about the fallacy of thinking that something has to be "safe" to be Christian. Many of them are deadly boring -- usually these are the ones by the theologians and the literary critics, who tend to make it clear that they have never created a fictional work in their lives and are purely writing from the "outside." I found myself skimming it.
COLUMBINE by Dave Cullen
A stunning read and a masterful work of journalism. The factual story of the 1999 school shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado, this book dispels myth after myth propagated in the early days (and even the early years) after the tragedy. (No, Cassie Bernal did not "say yes." No, the killers were not Goths.) Even more important, it gives us an understanding as to why this happened, with a detailed account of the FBI hostage negotiator who happened to be on the scene and therefore got involved in digging to the root of the killers' psyches. A remarkable and fascinating book.
THE FOURTH BEAR by Jasper Fforde
This is the sequel to The Big Over Easy (above), and the second in Fforde's Nursery Crimes series, and again, I read it for work (which is different from reading for pleasure). I liked it quite a bit better than Over Easy, particularly loved the very precise explanation of why the Three Bears' porridge was all different temperatures if it was all dished out at the same time. As with all Jasper Fforde, there were moments of sheer screaming brilliance surrounded but a lot of "huh?" -- or maybe I'm just not quick-witted enough to track with everything going on at once. Masterful plotting, as always with Fforde, but an acquired taste for the sheer weirdness of it all.
GOING BOVINE by Libby Bray
We read this for our mother-daughter book club. The story of a slacker high school kid who contracts mad cow disease and runs away from home, heading off on a wild road trip that oh-so-roughly parallels Don Quixote, accompanied by an odd dwarf and visited periodically by an angel named Dulcie (get it?)... In the end, it turns out the road trip has been a hallucination and he has been in the hospital the whole time. Yes, I know that was a spoiler, but believe me, I have just saved you hours of your life. This book could have cut 200 pages and it would still have been too long.
GOOD IN A ROOM: How to Sell Yourself (And Your Ideas) and Win Over Any Audience by Stephanie Palmer.
This book could really be subtitled: "How To Take a Meeting." I had to rush through this book, but I found it very encouraging, in part because I realized I already knew so much of what she was saying. It's a definite must-read for anyone who *doesn't* do meetings every single day (If you do, you will probably yawn because you know it all already). Lots of little hints, and good focus on what's important and what's not. A clear yes.
THE GUARDIAN by Nicholas Sparks.
Another read for our mother-daughter book club, chosen because one of the girls had heard a book report on it in class and was intrigued.... Julie's husband has died, but he arranged for her to have a Great Dane delivered after his death. The dog is an intensely great judge of character. He growls whenever he sees Richard but he loves Mike. Julie's not smart enough to realize this. Richard stalks Julie, almost kills her, but the dog dies to save her.... Melodramatic to the extreme. I know Nicholas Sparks has millions of fans but this book did not make me one of them.
HIMALAYA by Michael Palin.
This is a companion piece to a BBC travel documentary that Palin did a few years back, sort of his travel diary while making the film about the trip. I needed to read it because I have been working on a project set in the Himalayas. Frankly, I would have expected far more from a member of Monty Python. It just wasn't that interesting to read, almost as if he phoned it in, or as if someone else wrote it up based on some scribbles in his journals.
THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins
Sabrina started telling me I had to read this book months ago. Okay, I put it on the list. Then I started seeing other mentions of it, notably at The Hogshead. So I put it on hold at the library and waited. With a little trepidation, I have to admit. I get nervous when a book (or TV show or movie or whatever) is hyped so much that my expectations are raised. What if I didn't like it as much as I wanted to?
No worries. I was mesmerized by The Hunger Games. Haunted by it. I dreamed about it, couldn't get it out of my mind. A corner of my mind is still working it over, weeks later.
As you probably know, The Hunger Games is set in a post-apocalyptic world where North America has been divided into districts, most of them quite poor and downtrodden, and children from each district are chosen by lottery annually to take part in the Hunger Games, a massive televised competition that is part Survivor, part Truman Show and part Lord of the Flies... because the children not only have to survive, they have to kill their competitors. Last one standing wins.
I wondered if the style of the book caused problems for some people, given that it's written in first-person, present-tense. (As a screenwriter, present tense is my default option.) I'd be interested in hearing from others. In any event, I won't keep writing about it here because it would throw this post out of whack (maybe I'll give it its own post). Suffice it to say that it's the first book to go on my sidebar as fave books of 2010, and I have already placed the sequel (Catching Fire) on hold... but I am number 41 on the holds list... sigh.
......Okay, that gets us halfway through the alphabet (apparently I didn't read anything between I and M...). Coming up soon, the second half!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
THE TOP CHILDREN'S BOOKS -- THE REST OF THE NOMINEES
I'm going to propose using this list from the School Library Journal to pick the next book in our mother-daughter book club, which is meeting this Sunday. So I'm posting the also-rans because
(a) I want to be able to access it easily when we try to figure out what we want to read next;
(b) We have a loose rule that we only read books that no one has read, and since we have some very avid readers in the group, it is entirely possible that we could get through the first 120 and not find a single book that at least one of us hadn't read;
(c) I really like lists and found this one fascinating; and
(d) I want to hear your thoughts on these books.
No, that is not a multiple choice quiz. Or if it is, the correct answer is (e) All of the above.
Here are the rest of the top children's book nominees. (Well, almost the rest -- I left off everything that only got one vote.) And we really are looking for our next book, so please feel free to highlight good options for us. (I'm marking the ones I've read, which would mean they're not eligible... even though I'm tempted to say I have read Watership Down just to get Sabrina to read it!)....
Some of these are pretty obscure.... Some are not. And let me point out that one of the rules for a book to make the final top #100, it had to get a minimum of two votes from adults (kids were also allowed to vote). Based on point totals alone, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince should have come in at #51 on the original list. The fact that it shows up here as an also-ran means that it got, at best, one adult vote. Interesting.
Let me know what you think!
(X) HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE by J.K. Rowling
THE MAGIC THIEF by Sarah Prineas
THE FROG PRINCESS by E.D. Baker
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: DOG DAYS by Jeff Kinney
(X) PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS: THE SEA OF MONSTERS by Rick Riordan
(X) PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS: THE TITAN'S CURSE by Rick Riordan
(X) PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS: THE BATTLE OF THE LABYRINTH by Rick Riordan
(X) PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS: THE LAST OLYMPIAN by Rick Riordan
INKDEATH by Cornelia Funke
THE THIEF LORD by Cornelia Funke
(X) VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER by C.S. Lewis
(X) KNIGHT'S CASTLE by Edward Eager
A YEAR DOWN YONDER by Richard Peck
DEAR MR. HENSHAW by Beverly Cleary
UNDERSTOOD BETSY by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
THE GREAT BRAIN by John D. Fitzgerald
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID by Jeff Kinney
SHILOH by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
THE EDGE CHRONICLES: BEYOND THE DEEP WOODS by Paul Stewart
(X) WATERSHIP DOWN by Richard Adams
ONCE UPON A CURSE by E.D. Baker
THE SALAMANDER SPELL by E.D. Baker
DRAGON'S BREATH by E.D. Baker
RULES by Cynthia Lord
THE DEVIL'S ARITHMETIC by Jane Yolen
(X) THE TWENTY-ONE BALLOONS by William Pene Du Bois
PRINCESS ACADEMY by Shannon Hale
(X) BUNNICULA by James Howe
(X) CHILDREN OF THE LAMP: THE AKHENATEN ADVENTURE by P.B. Kerr
MICK HARTE WAS HERE by Barbara Park
LIZZIE BRIGHT AND THE BUCKMINSTER BOY by Gary Schmidt
AL CAPONE DOES MY SHIRTS by Gennifer Choldenko
ARTEMIS FOWL by Eoin Colfer
BETSY, TACY AND TIB by Maud Hart Lovelace
(X) SUMMERLAND by Michael Chabon
BEEZUS AND RAMONA by Beverly Cleary
GRANNY TORELLI MAKES SOUP by Sharon Creech
(X) CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London
THE MAGIC THIEF: LOST by Sarah Prineas
(X) THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER by Barbara Robinson
HOMECOMING by Cynthia Voigt
(X) TARAN WANDERER by Lloyd Alexander
THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX by Roald Dahl
STONE FOX by John Gardiner
(X) THE LONG WINTER by Laura Ingalls Wilder
(X) MISTY OF CHINCOTEAGUE by Margueurite Henry
CHOCOLATE FEVER by Robert Kimmel Smith
(X) THE BLACK CAULDRON by Lloyd Alexander
(X) MR. POPPER'S PENGUINS by Richard Atwater
NO PLACE FOR MAGIC by E.D. Baker
JUST AS LONG AS WE'RE TOGETHER by Judy Blume
BETSY AND TACY GO DOWNTOWN by Maud Hart Lovelace
(X) HOMER PRICE by Robert McClosky
(X) THE HERO AND THE CROWN by Robin McKinley
A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS: THE REPTILE ROOM by Lemony Snicket
(X) HEIDI by Johanna Spyri
MILLICENT MIN, GIRL GENIUS by Lisa Yee
SEVEN WONDERS OF SASSAFRAS SPRINGS by Betty G. Birney
THE MOUSE AND THE MOTORCYCLE by Beverly Cleary
ARTEMIS FOWL: THE ETERNITY CODE by Eoin Colfer
RANGER'S APPRENTICE: RUINS OF GORLAN by John Flanagan
INKSPELL by Cornelia Funke
CHARMED LIFE by Diana Wynne Jones
THE EVOLUTION OF CALPURNIA TATE by Jacqueline Kelly
THE DIAMOND IN THE WINDOW by Jane Langton
THE WEE FREE MEN by Terry Pratchett
DICEY'S SONG by Cynthia Voigt
(X) FARMER BOY by Laura Ingalls Wilder
CHASING VERMEER by Blue Balliett
RAMONA THE BRAVE by Beverly Cleary
GREY KING by Susan Cooper
THE FOUR STORY MISTAKE by Elizabeth Enright
CORALINE by Neil Gaiman
THE THING ABOUT GEORGIE by Lisa Graff
AMONG THE HIDDEN by Margaret Peterson Haddix
THE TROLLS by Polly Horvath
FINN FAMILY MOOMINTROLL by Tove Jansson
THE WILLOUGHBYS by Lois Lowry
SHERWOOD RING by Elizabeth Marie Pope
THE KING AF ATTOLIA by Megan Whalen Turner
THE DOLLHOUSE MURDERS by Betty Ren Wright
THE DRAGON PRINCESS by E.D. Baker
(X) PETER PAN by J.M. Barrie
THIMBLE SUMMER by Elizabeth Enright
FLY BY NIGHT by Frances Hardinge
THE ORDINARY PRINCESS by M.M. Kaye
ERAGON by Christopher Paolini
(X) A SWIFTLY TILTING PLANET by Madeleine L'Engle
BLUBBER by Judy Blume
BABY ISLAND by Carol Ryrie Brink
(X) THE BLACK STALLION by Walter Farley
I WANNA BE YOUR SHOEBOX by Cristina Garcia
SILVERWING by Kenneth Oppel
SOMEDAY, ANGELINE by Louis Sachar
EACH LITTLE BIRD THAT SINGS by Deborah Wiles
THE PINK MOTEL by Carol Ryrie Brink
THE GOOSE GIRL by Shannon Hale
(X) THE OUTSIDERS by S.E. Hinton
GOOD NIGHT, MR. TOM by Michelle Magorian
EMILY OF NEW MOON by L. M. Montgomery
AIRBORN by Kenneth Oppel
HOUNDS OF THE MORRIGAN by Pat O'Shea
THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY by Susan Patron
(X) THE LITTLE PRINCE by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
A DROWNED MAIDEN'S HAIR by Laura Amy Schlitz
THE WEDNESDAY WARS by Gary D. Schmidt
A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS: THE WIDE WINDOW by Lemony Snicket
A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS: THE MISERABLE MILL by Lemony Snicket
(X) MARY POPPINS by P.L. Travers
(X) STUART LITTLE by E.B. White
HOME OF THE BRAVE by Katherine Applegate
STARRING SALLY J. FREEDMAN AS HERSELF by Judy Blume
FIRST TERM AT MALORY TOWERS by Enid Blyton
TRIXIE BELDEN AND THE SECRET OF THE MANSION by Julie Campbell
ARTEMIS FOWL: THE ARCTIC INCIDENT by Eoin Colfer
BLOOMABILITY by Sharon Creech
THE WHEEL ON THE SCHOOL by Meindert DeJong
SPIDERWEB FOR TWO: A MELENDY MAZE by Elizabeth Enright
THE SILVER CURLEW by Eleanor Farjeon
THE EAR, THE EYE AND THE ARM by Nancy Farmer
PICTURES OF HOLLIS WOODS by Patricia Reilly Giff
THE DARKEST HOUR (THE WARRIORS) by Erin Hunter
(X) THE JUNGLE BOOK by Rudyard Kipling
A PROUD TASTE FOR SCARLET AND MINIVER by E.L. Konigsburg
(X) THE STORY OF DOCTOR DOOLITTLE by Hugh Lofting
A SINGLE SHARD by Linda Sue Park
THE TRUE MEANING OF SMEKDAY by Adam Rex
THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY AND THE PERILOUS JOURNEY by Trenton Lee Stewart
(X) THOSE HAPPY GOLDEN YEARS by Laura Ingalls Wilder
(X) LITTLE MEN by Louisa May Alcott
NO FLYING IN THE HOUSE by Betty Brock
(X) THE LAST OF THE REALLY GREAT WHANGDOODLES by Julie Andrews Edwards
JULIE OF THE WOLVES by Jean Craighead George
(X) BLACK BEAUTY by Anna Sewell
THE HUNDRED AND ONE DALMATIANS by Dodie Smith
A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS: THE ERSATZ ELEVATOR by Lemony Snicket
THE VELVET ROOM by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
ON MY HONOR by Marion Dane Bauer
NO TALKING by Andrew Clements
THE MIDWIFE'S APPRENTICE by Karen Cushman
THE TIGER RISING by Kate DiCamillo
AND THEN THERE WERE FIVE by Elizabeth Enright
(X) KING OF THE WIND by Marguerite Henry
THE YEAR OF MISS AGNES by Kirkpatrick Hill
(X) THE YEARLING by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
BECOMING NAOMI LEON by Pam Munoz Ryan
THE UNDERNEATH by Kathy Appelt
SKELLIG by David Almond
WHALES ON STILTS by M.T. Anderson
DRAGON KISS by E.D. Baker
TANGERINE by Edward Bloor
THE WHITE MOUNTAINS by John Christopher
THE REPORT CARD by Andrew Clements
GREGOR THE OVERLANDER by Suzanne Collins
THE TWITS by Roald Dahl
THE MAGICIAN'S ELEPHANT by Kate DiCamillo
JOEY PIGZA SWALLED THE KEY by Jack Gantos
BETSY AND TACY GO OVER THE BIG HILL by Maud Hart Lovelace
(X) JACOB HAVE I LOVED by Katherine Paterson
(X) THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS by Dav Pilkey
A GIRL OF THE LIMBERLOST by Gene Stratton Porter
A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN by Betty Smith
PETER AND THE STARCATCHERS by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
THE FIELD GUIDE (SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES) by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi
HEARTBEAT by Sharon Creech
REPLAY by Sharon Creech
LETTERS FROM RIFKA by Karen Hesse
MOOMINTROLL MIDWINTER by Tove Jansson
THE SCHOOL MOUSE by Dick King-Smith
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: THE LAST STRAW by Jeff Kinney
HEAT by Mike Lupica
MRS. PIGGLE-WIGGLE'S MAGIC by Betty MacDonald
(X) THE PRINCESS AND THE GOBLIN by George MacDonald
EXPERANZA RISING by Pam Munoz Ryan
THE EDGE CHRONICLES: MIDNIGHT OVER SANCTAPHRAX by Paul Stewart
THE EDGE CHRONICLES: STORMCHASER by Paul Stewart
(X) THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON by Johann Wyss
A STRING IN THE HARP by Nancy Bond
THE WANDERER by Sharon Creech
THE LONDON EYE MYSTERY by Siobhan Dowd
THE FLEDGLING by Jane Langton
(X) DRAGONSONG by Anne McCaffrey
JEREMY FINK AND THE MEANING OF LIFE by Wendy Mass
ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN, BOY DETECTIVE by Donald Sobol
(X) THE HUNDRED DRESSES by Eleanor Estes
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: RODRICK RULES by Jeff Kinney
ZOOBREAK by Gordon Korman
(X) A WIND IN THE DOOR by Madeleine L'Engle
EVERY SOUL A STAR by Wendy Mass
BLACK AND BLUE MAGIC by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
(X) TOM SAWYER by Mark Twain
DADDY LONG-LEGS by Jean Webster
BEFORE WE WERE FREE by Julia Alvarez
ELIJAH OF BUXTON by Christopher Paul Curtis
THE TOWER TREASURE (HARDY BOYS MYSTERIES) by Frank Dixon
THE SEA OF TROLLS by Nancy Farmer
OUR ONLY MAY AMELIA by Jennifer Holm
THE MAGIC PUDDING by Norman Lindsay
SAFFY'S ANGEL by Hilary McKay
CALICO CAPTIVE by Elizabeth George Speare
(X) SEVEN DAY MAGIC by Edward Eager
THE LIVES OF CHRISTOPHER CHANT by Diana Wynne Jones
JUNIE B. JONES AND THE STUPID SMELLY BUS by Barbara Park
JOURNEY TO TOPAZ by Yoshiko Uchida
THE 39 CLUES: BEYOND THE GRAVE by Jude Watson
(X) TRUMPET OF THE SWAN by E.B. White
OZMA OF OZ by L. Frank Baum
HATE THAT CAT by Sharon Creech
PERMANENT ROSE by Hilary McKay
ELDEST by Christopher Paolini
RETURN TO SENDER by Julia Alvarez
HOPE WAS HERE by Joan Bauer
HANK THE COWDOG AND THE ONE-EYED KILLER STUD HORSE by John Erickson
THE WITCH FAMILY by Eleanor Estes
LAD: A DOG by Albert Payson Terhune
EIGHT COUSINS by Louisa May Alcott
CRISPIN: CROSS OF LEAD by Avi
LITTLE WITCH by Anna Elizabeth Bennett
SUPERFUDGE by Judy Blume
(X) THE ISLAND OF THE AUNTS by Eva Ibbotson
ALVIN HO: ALLERGIC TO GIRLS, SCHOOL AND OTHER SCARY THINGS by Lenore Look
HARRIS AND ME by Gary Paulsen
YANKEE GIRL by Mary Ann Rodman
A CROOKED KIND OF PERFECT by Linda Urban
THE PRINCE OF FENWAY PARK by Julianna Baggott
OTHERWISE KNOWN AS SHEILA THE GREAT by Judy Blume
FIVE ON A TREASURE ISLAND by Enid Blyton
REVENGE OF THE DRAGON LADY by Kate McMullan
THE PUSHCART WAR by Jean Merrill
(a) I want to be able to access it easily when we try to figure out what we want to read next;(b) We have a loose rule that we only read books that no one has read, and since we have some very avid readers in the group, it is entirely possible that we could get through the first 120 and not find a single book that at least one of us hadn't read;
(c) I really like lists and found this one fascinating; and
(d) I want to hear your thoughts on these books.
No, that is not a multiple choice quiz. Or if it is, the correct answer is (e) All of the above.
Here are the rest of the top children's book nominees. (Well, almost the rest -- I left off everything that only got one vote.) And we really are looking for our next book, so please feel free to highlight good options for us. (I'm marking the ones I've read, which would mean they're not eligible... even though I'm tempted to say I have read Watership Down just to get Sabrina to read it!)....
Some of these are pretty obscure.... Some are not. And let me point out that one of the rules for a book to make the final top #100, it had to get a minimum of two votes from adults (kids were also allowed to vote). Based on point totals alone, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince should have come in at #51 on the original list. The fact that it shows up here as an also-ran means that it got, at best, one adult vote. Interesting.
Let me know what you think!
(X) HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE by J.K. Rowling
THE MAGIC THIEF by Sarah Prineas
THE FROG PRINCESS by E.D. Baker
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: DOG DAYS by Jeff Kinney
(X) PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS: THE SEA OF MONSTERS by Rick Riordan
(X) PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS: THE TITAN'S CURSE by Rick Riordan
(X) PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS: THE BATTLE OF THE LABYRINTH by Rick Riordan
(X) PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS: THE LAST OLYMPIAN by Rick Riordan
INKDEATH by Cornelia Funke
THE THIEF LORD by Cornelia Funke
(X) VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER by C.S. Lewis
(X) KNIGHT'S CASTLE by Edward Eager
A YEAR DOWN YONDER by Richard Peck
DEAR MR. HENSHAW by Beverly Cleary
UNDERSTOOD BETSY by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
THE GREAT BRAIN by John D. Fitzgerald
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID by Jeff Kinney
SHILOH by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
THE EDGE CHRONICLES: BEYOND THE DEEP WOODS by Paul Stewart
(X) WATERSHIP DOWN by Richard Adams
ONCE UPON A CURSE by E.D. Baker
THE SALAMANDER SPELL by E.D. Baker
DRAGON'S BREATH by E.D. Baker
RULES by Cynthia Lord
THE DEVIL'S ARITHMETIC by Jane Yolen
(X) THE TWENTY-ONE BALLOONS by William Pene Du Bois
PRINCESS ACADEMY by Shannon Hale
(X) BUNNICULA by James Howe
(X) CHILDREN OF THE LAMP: THE AKHENATEN ADVENTURE by P.B. Kerr
MICK HARTE WAS HERE by Barbara Park
LIZZIE BRIGHT AND THE BUCKMINSTER BOY by Gary Schmidt
AL CAPONE DOES MY SHIRTS by Gennifer Choldenko
ARTEMIS FOWL by Eoin Colfer
BETSY, TACY AND TIB by Maud Hart Lovelace
(X) SUMMERLAND by Michael Chabon
BEEZUS AND RAMONA by Beverly Cleary
GRANNY TORELLI MAKES SOUP by Sharon Creech
(X) CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London
THE MAGIC THIEF: LOST by Sarah Prineas
(X) THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER by Barbara Robinson
HOMECOMING by Cynthia Voigt
(X) TARAN WANDERER by Lloyd Alexander
THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX by Roald Dahl
STONE FOX by John Gardiner
(X) THE LONG WINTER by Laura Ingalls Wilder
(X) MISTY OF CHINCOTEAGUE by Margueurite Henry
CHOCOLATE FEVER by Robert Kimmel Smith
(X) THE BLACK CAULDRON by Lloyd Alexander
(X) MR. POPPER'S PENGUINS by Richard Atwater
NO PLACE FOR MAGIC by E.D. Baker
JUST AS LONG AS WE'RE TOGETHER by Judy Blume
BETSY AND TACY GO DOWNTOWN by Maud Hart Lovelace
(X) HOMER PRICE by Robert McClosky
(X) THE HERO AND THE CROWN by Robin McKinley
A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS: THE REPTILE ROOM by Lemony Snicket
(X) HEIDI by Johanna Spyri
MILLICENT MIN, GIRL GENIUS by Lisa Yee
SEVEN WONDERS OF SASSAFRAS SPRINGS by Betty G. Birney
THE MOUSE AND THE MOTORCYCLE by Beverly Cleary
ARTEMIS FOWL: THE ETERNITY CODE by Eoin Colfer
RANGER'S APPRENTICE: RUINS OF GORLAN by John Flanagan
INKSPELL by Cornelia Funke
CHARMED LIFE by Diana Wynne Jones
THE EVOLUTION OF CALPURNIA TATE by Jacqueline Kelly
THE DIAMOND IN THE WINDOW by Jane Langton
THE WEE FREE MEN by Terry Pratchett
DICEY'S SONG by Cynthia Voigt
(X) FARMER BOY by Laura Ingalls Wilder
CHASING VERMEER by Blue Balliett
RAMONA THE BRAVE by Beverly Cleary
GREY KING by Susan Cooper
THE FOUR STORY MISTAKE by Elizabeth Enright
CORALINE by Neil Gaiman
THE THING ABOUT GEORGIE by Lisa Graff
AMONG THE HIDDEN by Margaret Peterson Haddix
THE TROLLS by Polly Horvath
FINN FAMILY MOOMINTROLL by Tove Jansson
THE WILLOUGHBYS by Lois Lowry
SHERWOOD RING by Elizabeth Marie Pope
THE KING AF ATTOLIA by Megan Whalen Turner
THE DOLLHOUSE MURDERS by Betty Ren Wright
THE DRAGON PRINCESS by E.D. Baker
(X) PETER PAN by J.M. Barrie
THIMBLE SUMMER by Elizabeth Enright
FLY BY NIGHT by Frances Hardinge
THE ORDINARY PRINCESS by M.M. Kaye
ERAGON by Christopher Paolini
(X) A SWIFTLY TILTING PLANET by Madeleine L'Engle
BLUBBER by Judy Blume
BABY ISLAND by Carol Ryrie Brink
(X) THE BLACK STALLION by Walter Farley
I WANNA BE YOUR SHOEBOX by Cristina Garcia
SILVERWING by Kenneth Oppel
SOMEDAY, ANGELINE by Louis Sachar
EACH LITTLE BIRD THAT SINGS by Deborah Wiles
THE PINK MOTEL by Carol Ryrie Brink
THE GOOSE GIRL by Shannon Hale
(X) THE OUTSIDERS by S.E. Hinton
GOOD NIGHT, MR. TOM by Michelle Magorian
EMILY OF NEW MOON by L. M. Montgomery
AIRBORN by Kenneth Oppel
HOUNDS OF THE MORRIGAN by Pat O'Shea
THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY by Susan Patron
(X) THE LITTLE PRINCE by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
A DROWNED MAIDEN'S HAIR by Laura Amy Schlitz
THE WEDNESDAY WARS by Gary D. Schmidt
A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS: THE WIDE WINDOW by Lemony Snicket
A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS: THE MISERABLE MILL by Lemony Snicket
(X) MARY POPPINS by P.L. Travers
(X) STUART LITTLE by E.B. White
HOME OF THE BRAVE by Katherine Applegate
STARRING SALLY J. FREEDMAN AS HERSELF by Judy Blume
FIRST TERM AT MALORY TOWERS by Enid Blyton
TRIXIE BELDEN AND THE SECRET OF THE MANSION by Julie Campbell
ARTEMIS FOWL: THE ARCTIC INCIDENT by Eoin Colfer
BLOOMABILITY by Sharon Creech
THE WHEEL ON THE SCHOOL by Meindert DeJong
SPIDERWEB FOR TWO: A MELENDY MAZE by Elizabeth Enright
THE SILVER CURLEW by Eleanor Farjeon
THE EAR, THE EYE AND THE ARM by Nancy Farmer
PICTURES OF HOLLIS WOODS by Patricia Reilly Giff
THE DARKEST HOUR (THE WARRIORS) by Erin Hunter
(X) THE JUNGLE BOOK by Rudyard Kipling
A PROUD TASTE FOR SCARLET AND MINIVER by E.L. Konigsburg
(X) THE STORY OF DOCTOR DOOLITTLE by Hugh Lofting
A SINGLE SHARD by Linda Sue Park
THE TRUE MEANING OF SMEKDAY by Adam Rex
THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY AND THE PERILOUS JOURNEY by Trenton Lee Stewart
(X) THOSE HAPPY GOLDEN YEARS by Laura Ingalls Wilder
(X) LITTLE MEN by Louisa May Alcott
NO FLYING IN THE HOUSE by Betty Brock
(X) THE LAST OF THE REALLY GREAT WHANGDOODLES by Julie Andrews Edwards
JULIE OF THE WOLVES by Jean Craighead George
(X) BLACK BEAUTY by Anna Sewell
THE HUNDRED AND ONE DALMATIANS by Dodie Smith
A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS: THE ERSATZ ELEVATOR by Lemony Snicket
THE VELVET ROOM by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
ON MY HONOR by Marion Dane Bauer
NO TALKING by Andrew Clements
THE MIDWIFE'S APPRENTICE by Karen Cushman
THE TIGER RISING by Kate DiCamillo
AND THEN THERE WERE FIVE by Elizabeth Enright
(X) KING OF THE WIND by Marguerite Henry
THE YEAR OF MISS AGNES by Kirkpatrick Hill
(X) THE YEARLING by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
BECOMING NAOMI LEON by Pam Munoz Ryan
THE UNDERNEATH by Kathy Appelt
SKELLIG by David Almond
WHALES ON STILTS by M.T. Anderson
DRAGON KISS by E.D. Baker
TANGERINE by Edward Bloor
THE WHITE MOUNTAINS by John Christopher
THE REPORT CARD by Andrew Clements
GREGOR THE OVERLANDER by Suzanne Collins
THE TWITS by Roald Dahl
THE MAGICIAN'S ELEPHANT by Kate DiCamillo
JOEY PIGZA SWALLED THE KEY by Jack Gantos
BETSY AND TACY GO OVER THE BIG HILL by Maud Hart Lovelace
(X) JACOB HAVE I LOVED by Katherine Paterson
(X) THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS by Dav Pilkey
A GIRL OF THE LIMBERLOST by Gene Stratton Porter
A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN by Betty Smith
PETER AND THE STARCATCHERS by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
THE FIELD GUIDE (SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES) by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi
HEARTBEAT by Sharon Creech
REPLAY by Sharon Creech
LETTERS FROM RIFKA by Karen Hesse
MOOMINTROLL MIDWINTER by Tove Jansson
THE SCHOOL MOUSE by Dick King-Smith
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: THE LAST STRAW by Jeff Kinney
HEAT by Mike Lupica
MRS. PIGGLE-WIGGLE'S MAGIC by Betty MacDonald
(X) THE PRINCESS AND THE GOBLIN by George MacDonald
EXPERANZA RISING by Pam Munoz Ryan
THE EDGE CHRONICLES: MIDNIGHT OVER SANCTAPHRAX by Paul Stewart
THE EDGE CHRONICLES: STORMCHASER by Paul Stewart
(X) THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON by Johann Wyss
A STRING IN THE HARP by Nancy Bond
THE WANDERER by Sharon Creech
THE LONDON EYE MYSTERY by Siobhan Dowd
THE FLEDGLING by Jane Langton
(X) DRAGONSONG by Anne McCaffrey
JEREMY FINK AND THE MEANING OF LIFE by Wendy Mass
ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN, BOY DETECTIVE by Donald Sobol
(X) THE HUNDRED DRESSES by Eleanor Estes
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: RODRICK RULES by Jeff Kinney
ZOOBREAK by Gordon Korman
(X) A WIND IN THE DOOR by Madeleine L'Engle
EVERY SOUL A STAR by Wendy Mass
BLACK AND BLUE MAGIC by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
(X) TOM SAWYER by Mark Twain
DADDY LONG-LEGS by Jean Webster
BEFORE WE WERE FREE by Julia Alvarez
ELIJAH OF BUXTON by Christopher Paul Curtis
THE TOWER TREASURE (HARDY BOYS MYSTERIES) by Frank Dixon
THE SEA OF TROLLS by Nancy Farmer
OUR ONLY MAY AMELIA by Jennifer Holm
THE MAGIC PUDDING by Norman Lindsay
SAFFY'S ANGEL by Hilary McKay
CALICO CAPTIVE by Elizabeth George Speare
(X) SEVEN DAY MAGIC by Edward Eager
THE LIVES OF CHRISTOPHER CHANT by Diana Wynne Jones
JUNIE B. JONES AND THE STUPID SMELLY BUS by Barbara Park
JOURNEY TO TOPAZ by Yoshiko Uchida
THE 39 CLUES: BEYOND THE GRAVE by Jude Watson
(X) TRUMPET OF THE SWAN by E.B. White
OZMA OF OZ by L. Frank Baum
HATE THAT CAT by Sharon Creech
PERMANENT ROSE by Hilary McKay
ELDEST by Christopher Paolini
RETURN TO SENDER by Julia Alvarez
HOPE WAS HERE by Joan Bauer
HANK THE COWDOG AND THE ONE-EYED KILLER STUD HORSE by John Erickson
THE WITCH FAMILY by Eleanor Estes
LAD: A DOG by Albert Payson Terhune
EIGHT COUSINS by Louisa May Alcott
CRISPIN: CROSS OF LEAD by Avi
LITTLE WITCH by Anna Elizabeth Bennett
SUPERFUDGE by Judy Blume
(X) THE ISLAND OF THE AUNTS by Eva Ibbotson
ALVIN HO: ALLERGIC TO GIRLS, SCHOOL AND OTHER SCARY THINGS by Lenore Look
HARRIS AND ME by Gary Paulsen
YANKEE GIRL by Mary Ann Rodman
A CROOKED KIND OF PERFECT by Linda Urban
THE PRINCE OF FENWAY PARK by Julianna Baggott
OTHERWISE KNOWN AS SHEILA THE GREAT by Judy Blume
FIVE ON A TREASURE ISLAND by Enid Blyton
REVENGE OF THE DRAGON LADY by Kate McMullan
THE PUSHCART WAR by Jean Merrill
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
THE TOP CHILDREN'S BOOKS -- THE ONES THAT ALMOST MADE THE LIST
More from the School Library Journal's list of top children's books..... Here are the ones that almost made the top 100.
I think it's interesting that I've read (proportionately) more of the books on this list than on the top 100 45% of these compared to 40% of the top 100. Not a bit difference, but I am guessing that it's because there are a lot of newer books on the list that haven't risen to my awareness because (a) I'm not a child anymore and (b) they never rose to my kids' awareness. (Are there a lot of books from the '80s and '90s there, ones that would have fallen between our kids'-book-reading-windows?)
Some truly great books on this list as well. I am particularly happy to see FIVE CHILDREN AND IT make the list -- my mother was a huge E. Nesbit fan, and introduced me to her... the beginnning of a long love affair with British children's literature which hasn't faded!.... I wish I had time to sit down and read (or re-read) them all now!
I've X'd the ones I've read. And I'm including the dates, just to check my theory above...
TOM'S MIDNIGHT GARDEN by Philippa Pearce (1958)
THE MAGICIAN'S NEPHEW by C.S. Lewis (1955) (X)
TREASURE ISLAND by Robert Louis Stevenson (1883) (X)
THERE'S A BOY IN THE GIRLS' BATHROOM (1987) by Louis Sachar
DEALING WITH DRAGONS by Patricia C. Wreade (1990)
REDWALL by Brian Jacques (1986)
CLEMENTINE by Sara Pennypacker (2006)
A CRICKET IN TIMES SQUARE by George Selden (1960) (X)
ANASTASIA KRUPNIK by Lois Lowry (1979)
DANNY THE CHAMPION OF THE WORLD by Roald Dahl (1975)
THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS by John Bellairs (1973)
FIVE CHILDREN AND IT by E. Nesbit (1902) (X)
MRS. PIGGLE WIGGLE by Betty MacDonald (1947) (X)
FABLEHAVEN by Brandon Mull (2006)
MISSING MAY by Cynthia Rylant (1992)
JENNIFER HECATE MACBETH WILLIAM MCKINLEY AND ME, ELIZABETH by E. L. Konigsburg (1967)
THE BOXCAR CHILDREN by Gertrude Chandler Warner (1924) (X)
A WIZARD OF EARTHSEA by Ursula LeGuin (1968) (X)
THE THIRTEEN CLOCKS by James Thurber (1950) (X)
THE MOFFATS by Elizabeth Estes (1941) (X)
I think it's interesting that I've read (proportionately) more of the books on this list than on the top 100 45% of these compared to 40% of the top 100. Not a bit difference, but I am guessing that it's because there are a lot of newer books on the list that haven't risen to my awareness because (a) I'm not a child anymore and (b) they never rose to my kids' awareness. (Are there a lot of books from the '80s and '90s there, ones that would have fallen between our kids'-book-reading-windows?)
I've X'd the ones I've read. And I'm including the dates, just to check my theory above...
TOM'S MIDNIGHT GARDEN by Philippa Pearce (1958)
THE MAGICIAN'S NEPHEW by C.S. Lewis (1955) (X)
TREASURE ISLAND by Robert Louis Stevenson (1883) (X)
THERE'S A BOY IN THE GIRLS' BATHROOM (1987) by Louis Sachar
DEALING WITH DRAGONS by Patricia C. Wreade (1990)
REDWALL by Brian Jacques (1986)
CLEMENTINE by Sara Pennypacker (2006)
A CRICKET IN TIMES SQUARE by George Selden (1960) (X)
ANASTASIA KRUPNIK by Lois Lowry (1979)
DANNY THE CHAMPION OF THE WORLD by Roald Dahl (1975)
THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS by John Bellairs (1973)
FIVE CHILDREN AND IT by E. Nesbit (1902) (X)
MRS. PIGGLE WIGGLE by Betty MacDonald (1947) (X)
FABLEHAVEN by Brandon Mull (2006)
MISSING MAY by Cynthia Rylant (1992)
JENNIFER HECATE MACBETH WILLIAM MCKINLEY AND ME, ELIZABETH by E. L. Konigsburg (1967)
THE BOXCAR CHILDREN by Gertrude Chandler Warner (1924) (X)
A WIZARD OF EARTHSEA by Ursula LeGuin (1968) (X)
THE THIRTEEN CLOCKS by James Thurber (1950) (X)
THE MOFFATS by Elizabeth Estes (1941) (X)
Friday, April 16, 2010
THE TOP 100 CHILDREN'S BOOKS
Beth over at Endless Books has delightfully linked to the School Library Journal's list of the top 100 children's books, per a recent vote.
I found the list full of memories.
I love children's lit, and especially YA books. I think the books we read as kids and as teenagers are the ones that shape our lives. I am who I am because I devoured A Wrinkle in Time and Harriet the Spy and The Lord of the Rings at a young and impressionable age, an age when I was more apt to let a book wash over me, before that inner critic was fully developed.
Even today, I'd much rather read (or re-read) my way through this list than through the current New York Times' Bestseller list...
Here's the list. I've read 40 of them (that I remember), but of course quite a few were after my time, as it were.
How many have you read?
#1 Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
#2 A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
#3 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
#4 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
#5 From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
#6 Holes by Louis Sachar
#7 The Giver by Lois Lowry
#8 The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
#9 Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
#10 The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
#11 The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
#12 The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
#13 Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
#14 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
#15 Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
#16 Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
#17 Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
#18 Matilda by Roald Dahl
#19 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
#20 Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
#21 Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
#22 The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo
#23 Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
#24 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
#25 Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
#26 Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
#27 A Little Princess by Francis Hodgson Burnett
#28 Winnie-the Pooh by A.A. Milne
#29 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland /Alice Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
#30 The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
#31 Half Magic by Edward Eager
#32 Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
#33 James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
#34 Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
#35 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire JK Rowling
#36 Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
#37 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
#38 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
#39 When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
#40 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
#41 The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
#42 Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
#43 Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary
#44 Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
#45 The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
#46 Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
#47 Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
#48 The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall
#49 Frindle by Andrew Clements
#50 Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
#51 The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright
#52 The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
#53 Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
#54 The BFG by Roald Dahl
#55 The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
#56 Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
#57 Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary
#58 The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
#59 Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
#60 The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
#61 Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
#62 The Secret of the Old Clock (The Nancy Drew mysteries) by Caroline Keene
#63 Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright
#64 A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck
#65 Ballet Shoes by Noah Streatfeild
#66 Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary
#67 Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville
#68 Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
#69 The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
#70 Betsy Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace
#71 A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
#72 My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
#73 My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
#74 The Borrowers by Mary Norton
#75 Love That Dog by Sharon Creech
#76 Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
#77 City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
#78 Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
#79 All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
#80 The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
#81 Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
#82 The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander
#83 The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
#84 Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge
#85 On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder
#86 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
#87 The View from Saturday by E. L. Konigsburg
#88 The High King by Lloyd Alexander
#89 Ramona and her Father by Beverly Cleary
#90 Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
#91 Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
#92 Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
#93 Caddie Woodlawn by C. R. Brink
#94 Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
#95 Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
#96 The Witches by Roald Dahl
#97: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
#98 Children of Green Knowe by L.M. Boston
#99 The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
#100 The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
#2 A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
#3 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
#4 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
#5 From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
#6 Holes by Louis Sachar
#7 The Giver by Lois Lowry
#8 The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
#9 Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
#10 The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
#11 The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
#12 The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
#13 Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
#14 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
#15 Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
#16 Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
#17 Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
#18 Matilda by Roald Dahl
#19 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
#20 Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
#21 Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
#22 The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo
#23 Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
#24 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
#25 Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
#26 Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
#27 A Little Princess by Francis Hodgson Burnett
#28 Winnie-the Pooh by A.A. Milne
#29 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland /Alice Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
#30 The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
#31 Half Magic by Edward Eager
#32 Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
#33 James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
#34 Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
#35 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire JK Rowling
#36 Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
#37 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
#38 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
#39 When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
#40 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
#41 The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
#42 Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
#43 Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary
#44 Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
#45 The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
#46 Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
#47 Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
#48 The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall
#49 Frindle by Andrew Clements
#50 Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
#51 The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright
#52 The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
#53 Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
#54 The BFG by Roald Dahl
#55 The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
#56 Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
#57 Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary
#58 The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
#59 Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
#60 The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
#61 Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
#62 The Secret of the Old Clock (The Nancy Drew mysteries) by Caroline Keene
#63 Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright
#64 A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck
#65 Ballet Shoes by Noah Streatfeild
#66 Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary
#67 Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville
#68 Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
#69 The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
#70 Betsy Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace
#71 A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
#72 My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
#73 My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
#74 The Borrowers by Mary Norton
#75 Love That Dog by Sharon Creech
#76 Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
#77 City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
#78 Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
#79 All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
#80 The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
#81 Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
#82 The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander
#83 The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
#84 Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge
#85 On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder
#86 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
#87 The View from Saturday by E. L. Konigsburg
#88 The High King by Lloyd Alexander
#89 Ramona and her Father by Beverly Cleary
#90 Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
#91 Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
#92 Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
#93 Caddie Woodlawn by C. R. Brink
#94 Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
#95 Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
#96 The Witches by Roald Dahl
#97: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
#98 Children of Green Knowe by L.M. Boston
#99 The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
#100 The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
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